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General do‘s and don’ts when using TuffTech products

Here are a few tips to help if you find yourself ’caught out’

Always carry a roll of visqueen (DPM) or tarpaulins on your van so that you can
cover the roof in the event of a shower.

Use pre-sealed decking boards to avoid getting them wet in the event of a
shower. This means applying a thin ’sealer’ coat of catalysed base coat resin
to the decking boards and allowing them to cure before use. This can be done
either on your premises in advance of starting the job or on site prior to laying
the boards. Either way, ensure they are cured before using to avoid contamination.

Plan your job in phases so as to achieve water tightness as soon as possible.
This may mean ’sealing’ the decking boards as soon as they are laid i.e. before
applying edge trims etc.

If the laminate gets wet before curing, it may be necessary to remove that part
that is still uncured, and re-laminate once all the moisture has been removed.

REMEMBER if heat is required to dry an area of the roof/laminate NEVER USE
A NAKED FLAME!!! The styrene emissions from the resin are highly flammable
and should be kept away from any source of ignition. Hot or warm air is the
recommended way of drying.

If the laminate has got wet before fully curing, it will show as ’milky white’ in
colour. If the laminate is soft to touch, it will need to be removed and relaminated.
If, however, it has cured hard, ensure all the moisture is removed
from the surface and apply a further coat of catalysed base coat resin to the
affected area.

If the fully cured laminate gets wet before the top coat can be applied, all the
moisture must be removed from the laminate before proceeding. This can be
done by sweeping, squeegeeing, soaking up the moisture with rags and finally
drying using hot or warm air. Once dried, a further coat of catalysed base coat
resin will need to be applied and be cured before the top coat can be applied.

If it rains on the top coated roof before it has cured, it may cause small
indentations in the surface where the rain drops have landed. There is nothing
that can be done until the roof has been cured and the moisture has been
removed. The top coat now needs to be sanded back to the laminate, re-primed
with catalysed base coat resin and re-top coated.

Hot Weather Working

On a hot sunny day, the roof deck can reach very high temperatures before
you begin laminating. Often they can exceed the recommended upper
temperature limit for application of TuffStuff® of 30°c to reduce this problem,
cover the roof as decking progresses, removing the covers only at the last
minute.

Use extra slow summer grade catalyst – this will slow down the cure of the resins
to allow you to work longer with the resin.

Mix in smaller quantities.

Laminate in short runs.

After laminating, the roof surface can become too hot to apply the top coat.
Applying top coat to a roof surface that is too hot can disrupt the normal curing
cycle of the top coat and produce a roof that remains ’tacky’. This can be avoided
by getting the timing right i.e. laminating and top coating at the coolest parts
of the day.

Cold Weather Working

Always check the local weather forecast.

Do not apply resins to wet or frozen roof, or to damp boards, if you ignore this
advice the TuffStuff® laminate and or top coat will delaminate.

Heat the deck prior to laminating.

Use pre-warmed resins as warm resins cure faster even in cool conditions.

Do not apply below minimum temperatures i.e. 4°c.

Keep a waterproof sheet handy to cover the roof in case of a shower.

If the roof cannot be laminated the same day as it is laid then seal the decking
boards overnight using a light coating of catalysed base coat resin.

Related Products

TuffTechPRO Range

TuffStuff Base Coat

TuffStuff - Clear Top Coat

TuffStuff Reinforcement Mat

TuffStuff Acetone

TuffStuff Application Tool Starter Pack

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